Same teams, next year? Not so fast, especially if you are fans of the NFC West champion San Francisco 49ers.
The team that fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium went from winning a total of 12 games over three seasons to winning 13 in the 2019 regular season.
If that kind of leap in the NFC West sounds familiar, it is a similar pattern to the great jump the Rams made to reach Super Bowl LIII. Not precisely, but similar.
The Rams did not win more than seven games in a season from 2007-2016. Sean McVay brought his magic to the team in 2017 when they won 11 games and followed with a 13-season in 2018 and a trip to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the New England Patriots.
The Niners’ leap was much quicker, thanks to a fierce defense that doesn’t appear to be in for a huge change. Nick Bosa and his teammates should be a force for years to come.
However, the 49ers’ should be faced with challenges that bit the Rams in 2019. Will Jimmy Garoppolo continue to grow as a quarterback or will he struggle with success the way Jared Goff did?
And there are many players heading into unrestricted free agency. Spotrac.com has 14 Niners heading into those waters, and 11 are younger than 30.
|
PLAYER (14)
|
POS.
|
AGE
|
FROM
|
TO
|
2019 AAV
|
STATUS
|
MARKET VALUE
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emmanuel Sanders | WR | 33 | SF | TBD | $11,000,000 | UFA | Market Value |
| Jimmie Ward | FS | 29 | SF | TBD | $4,500,000 | UFA | – |
| Jason Verrett | CB | 29 | SF | TBD | $3,600,000 | UFA | – |
| Garrett Celek | TE | 32 | SF | TBD | $2,550,000 | UFA | – |
| Arik Armstead | DE | 26 | SF | TBD | $2,460,658 | UFA | – |
| Shon Coleman | T | 28 | SF | TBD | $819,704 | UFA | – |
| Ben Garland | C | 32 | SF | TBD | $805,000 | UFA | – |
| Levine Toilolo | TE | 29 | SF | TBD | $805,000 | UFA | – |
| Damontre Moore | DE | 27 | SF | TBD | $805,000 | UFA | – |
| Jordan Matthews | WR | 28 | SF | TBD | $805,000 | UFA | – |
| Dontae Johnson | CB | 28 | SF | TBD | $805,000 | UFA | – |
| Sheldon Day | DT | 26 | SF | TBD | $737,103 | UFA | – |
| Anthony Zettel | DE | 28 | SF | TBD | $720,000 | UFA | – |
| Ronald Blair | DE | 27 | SF | TBD | $652,601 | UFA | – |
George Kittle will be in for a big payday as he has proven to be one of the top two tight ends in the NFL. Balancing the salary cap won’t be easy when a player like Arik Armstead is going to get a hefty raise if he is to stay by the Bay.
John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan also have to deal with playing six games against divisional foes. The Seahawks are forever tough, the Rams figure to rebound and Arizona has Kyler Murray and is improving. Overall, San Francisco has the toughest NFC schedule next season: Six games will be against teams that won 10 games or more in 2019 and the Rams just miss that category, having gone 9-7.
The 49ers’ 2020 schedule, with opposing teams’ 2019 records in parentheses:
Home:
Seattle Seahawks (11-5)
Los Angeles Rams (9-7)
Arizona Cardinals (5-10-1)
Philadelphia Eagles (9-7)
Washington Redskins (3-13)
Miami Dolphins (5-11)
Buffalo Bills (10-6)
Green Bay Packers (13-3)
Away:
Seattle Seahawks (11-5)
Los Angeles Rams (9-7)
Arizona Cardinals (5-10-1)
Dallas Cowboys (8-8)
New York Giants (4-12)
New England Patriots (12-4)
New York Jets (7-9)
New Orleans Saints (13-3)
SFGate.com noted the 49ers’ opponents have a combined record of 134-120-2, a .528 win percentage. (For the purpose of this exercise, ties were not included in final win percentage.) This is the toughest schedule in the NFC, and the fourth-hardest in the NFL overall.